The present invention is directed primarily to a manually held and operated toothbrush which includes a handle and a head. Cleaning elements are mounted to the head such as tufts of bristles. When toothpaste is applied to the cleaning elements the user inserts the head into the mouth and brushes the teeth into a known manner.
Conventionally, a toothbrush head is of one piece construction which is elongated and symmetrical in shape on each side of the longitudinal center line. Variations of that basic structure are known in the art. Such variations include forming the toothbrush head with relatively wide segments interconnected by narrow connecting pieces. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,840,246, 1,860,924, Des.102,048 and Des.450,929. Similar type structure has also been incorporated in hairbrushes as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,253,292 and 4,566,145. Other known approaches taken in the prior art include providing some form of flexible mounting for the bristles such as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,802,656, 5,970,564 and 5,991,959. In these approaches an elastomeric section is provided on the longitudinal sides of the central portion of the toothbrush with the longitudinal sections being relatively thick compared to the central portion of the toothbrush and with the elastomer material completely bridging the head as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,564 or extending over a significant width of the head and being of generally the same thickness as the thickness of the head as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,959. Reference is also made to U.S. Patent No. Des.401,069 which appears to illustrate a toothbrush having undulated side edges.
An object of this invention is to provide a manually held and operated toothbrush which incorporates sections which provide flexibility to the cleaning elements mounted on those sections.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a toothbrush having different sections which mount cleaning elements capable of different motions from one section to the other.
In accordance with this invention an elongated head is attached to the end of a handle. The head has an outer surface with a central section disposed along the longitudinal axis of the head. The central section is in the form of a plurality of segments. The sets of adjacent segments are interconnected by a joint in such a manner that the central section is flexible along the joint for flexing in a manner similar to a caterpillar body. Shelf-like protrusions extend laterally outwardly from the central section. Each protrusion is in the form of a shelf which is generally thinner than the central section. Cleaning elements mounted to the shelf-like protrusions are also capable of flexing or moving but in a motion different than the motion of the cleaning elements on the central section.
In a preferred practice of this invention elastomeric material covers the shelf-like protrusions. The central section is preferably made of a harder material typical of conventional toothbrush material than is the shelf-like protrusions.